Analysis of the Legal Definition and Remedies for Employment Discrimination Against Sexual Minorities

Zixuan Chen

doi:10.54254/2753-7048/2025.LD29831

Lecture Notes in Education Psychology and Public MediaOpen access

Analysis of the Legal Definition and Remedies for Employment Discrimination Against Sexual Minorities

Research Article

Open Access

Analysis of the Legal Definition and Remedies for Employment Discrimination Against Sexual Minorities

Zixuan Chen ^1*

¹ University of International Business and Economics

^*Corresponding author: 202309126@uibe.edu.cn

Published on 26 November 2025

LNEP Vol.119

ISSN (Print): 2753-7056

ISSN (Online): 2753-7048

ISBN (Print): 978-1-80590-545-5

ISBN (Online): 978-1-80590-546-2

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Abstract

As the global sexual minorities' rights movement makes great progress, the protection of sexual minorities' right to equal employment has attracted much attention. However, various cases and data demonstrate that this group still faces widespread discrimination in employment. There are problems such as vague legal definitions and the difficulty of identifying hidden discrimination in China's anti-discrimination judicial practice. In contrast, the judicial review model emphasizing substantive equality demonstrated in the Bostock case in the United States provides China with ideas for improvement. Research has found that the provisions on equal employment rights in China are overly general in principle, which may lead to difficulties in evidential burden and judicial review avoidance. Based on this, a comprehensive safeguard system should be established at the legislative, enforcement, and social consciousness to effectively protect the equal employment rights of sexual minority employees and to realize the commitment of equality before the law.

Keywords:

Sexual minorities, Employment discrimination, Substantive equality, Formal equality, Legal definition

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References

[1]. Beijing LGBT Center & Department of Sociology, Peking University. (2017). 2017 National Report on the Living Conditions of Transgender People in China [R]. Beijing: Beijing LGBT Center, p.8.

[2]. New York State Department of Labor Report on Transgender, Gender Non-conforming, and Non-binary Persons in The Workforce.

[3]. Lu, Yingshan. (2020). A Study on the Rights Protection System of Sexual Minorities in China (Master’s thesis, Jinan University). Master’s degree.

[4]. Psychiatric Branch of the Chinese Medical Association. Chinese Classification and Diagnostic Criteria of Mental Disorders, Third Edition (Classification of Mental Disorders) [J]. Chinese Journal of Psychiatry, 2001, 034(003): 184–188.

[5]. Zhang, Qianfan. Constitutional Law (3rd ed.). Beijing: Law Press, 2015, p. 182.

[6]. Jeff Hearn. The Sexuality of Organization-Private Experiences in the Public Domain: lesbians in Organization [M]. SAGE Publications, 1989, p.130.

[7]. Tang, Erlang. (2022). A Historical Study on the U.S. Legal System against Employment Discrimination toward Sexual Minorities (Master’s thesis, Zhongnan University of Economics and Law). Master’s degree

References

[1]. Beijing LGBT Center & Department of Sociology, Peking University. (2017). 2017 National Report on the Living Conditions of Transgender People in China [R]. Beijing: Beijing LGBT Center, p.8.

[2]. New York State Department of Labor Report on Transgender, Gender Non-conforming, and Non-binary Persons in The Workforce.

[3]. Lu, Yingshan. (2020). A Study on the Rights Protection System of Sexual Minorities in China (Master’s thesis, Jinan University). Master’s degree.

[5]. Zhang, Qianfan. Constitutional Law (3rd ed.). Beijing: Law Press, 2015, p. 182.

[6]. Jeff Hearn. The Sexuality of Organization-Private Experiences in the Public Domain: lesbians in Organization [M]. SAGE Publications, 1989, p.130.

Cite this article

Chen,Z. (2025). Analysis of the Legal Definition and Remedies for Employment Discrimination Against Sexual Minorities. Lecture Notes in Education Psychology and Public Media,119,63-72.

Data availability

The datasets used and/or analyzed during the current study will be available from the authors upon reasonable request.

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Volume title: Proceedings of ICILLP 2025 Symposium: Property Law and Blockchain Applications in International Law and Legal Policy

ISBN: 978-1-80590-545-5(Print) / 978-1-80590-546-2(Online)

Editor: Renuka Thakore

Conference website: https://2025.icillp.org/London.html

Conference date: 19 November 2025

Series: Lecture Notes in Education Psychology and Public Media

Volume number: Vol.119

ISSN: 2753-7048(Print) / 2753-7056(Online)

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